The 1973 Robin Hood film will always hold some nostalgia for me. I still whistle the intro to this day sometimes. This movie is about a younger brother, Prince John, whom comes into power after his older brother, King Richard, is out of England for some time. The protagonist of the story is Robin Hood who steals from the rich and gives to the poor with the help of his sidekick Little John. Robin Hood and Little John target Prince John since he is the wealthiest man in England. Being the greedy ruler that he is, Prince John continues to raise taxes on the poor to the point where whomever can’t pay their taxes is thrown in jail. Robin Hood and Little John devise a plan to free those stuck in prison while stealing back the tax money. The two hero’s, along with the poor and tax money, narrowly escape the clutches of Prince John. As this is happening, Prince John manages to burn down his family castle in an attempt to stop them. Soon after, King Richard shows back up and pardons those all who wronged his younger brother, and Robin Hood gets to marry the love of his life. This movie is an example about how much power rich people can have in society. The ruler at the time, Prince John, was corrupt and just cared about money. He didn’t care that the poor were starving and barely getting by. I think that this is almost the case for things in the United States. The upper-class income is growing while the middle and lower classes are slowly shrinking. The percentage of middle-class Americans has shrunk from 61% in 1971 to 51% in 2019 (Pew Research, 2020). The upper-class is becoming more and more powerful in this country. The richer they become, the more influence they have over people and even some politicians which is scary. I think that the film makers wanted to communicate that there are some bad people in power in the world but also some good. I also think that the film makers wanted to show that there are people that genuinely care for others in the world and that you don’t need money to be happy.
Horowitz, J. M., Igielnik, R., & Kochhar, R. (2020, August 17). Trends in U.S. income and wealth inequality. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/#:~:text=The%20growth%20in%20income%20in,majority%20of%20Americans%2C%20is%20shrinking.&text=The%20share%20of%20American%20adults,1971%20to%2051%25%20in%202019.